Method of attaching a panel to a surface



Feb. 27, 1951 F. T. GROTHOUSE ET AL 2,543,626

METHOD OF ATTACHING A PANEL TO A SURFACE,

I Filed April 5, 1949 Fig.1.

Fig.2. j

Inventor: FrankTGrothouse,

Clarence Frere, by ,dfiw

His ALLOY ey.

Patented Feb. 27, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT QFFICE IVIETHOD OF ATTACHING A PANEL TO A SURFACE New York Application April 5, 1949, Serial No. 85,664

This invention relates to a device for attaching panels to a surface,and to a method for mounting and attaching panels to a surface.

A frequently encountered problem is to provide a suitable means for attaching a plurality of panels to surfaces, such as those comprising the walls or ceiling of an enclosed space. For example, for radiant heating of an enclosed space, a suitable construction is required for attaching prefabricated electrical heating panels to the walls or ceiling of a room. It is desirable in such an installation that the fastening devices be concealed from view in order to avoid unsightly pro- J'ections, marring the otherwise smooth and continuous surface of a completed installation.

A common practice in building structures is to surface the walls and ceilings of the rooms with plaster, Wall board, sheet rock, or other materials having a hard, brittle surface. The tendency of such wall and ceiling surfaces to crack and chip makes the use of conventional fastening devices, such as nails and screws, impractical unless the fastening devices extend entirely through the wall surfacing material and into, beams supporting the walls or ceiling. However, it is not always possible, especially in the mounting of panels, to locate the fastening devices so that they may penetrate the surface and the joists or studding for their principal support.

It is, therefore, an object of our invention to provide a construction for attaching panels to a surface which will result in an installation pleasing in appearance and particularly suitable for use in connection with wall and ceiling surfaces having a hard brittle character.

It is a further object of our invention to provide an arrangement for fastening panels to a surface readily adaptable to any such installation without modification of the existing surface.

Another object of our invention is to provide a method for installing panels on a surface minimizing the cost of labor and materials.

In accomplishment of the foregoing objectives, a feature of our invention consists in employment of strips of malleable material attached to the surface by staples driven through the strips and into the surface in a slanting direction, part of the staples being slanted in an opposite direction from the remainder, whereupon a panel may be placed against the surface overlying the staples and partially overlying the strips, permitting edges of the strips to be folded over onto the exposed surface of the panel.

The features of our invention which we believe to be novel are set forth with particularity 1 Claim. (01. 20-45) in the appended claim. Our invention itself, however, both as to its organization and use, to gether with further objects and advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 illustrates a wall of a room with panels mounted thereon; Fig. 2 is a perspective View partially in section illustrating construction details; and Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional elevation of a portion of a wall having a panel fastening device attached thereto.

Referring to the drawing, we have shown a plurality of panels 1, 2, and 3, mounted on a wall 4. These panels are held in position on the wall by fastening devices 5, one such fastening de vice extending along each of the vertical edges of each panel.

The details of this construction will be more fully understood by reference to Figs. 2 and 3 The Wall la, as here shown, is depicted as sheet rock or wall board of the type commercially used in the building trade. Typically, this wall board has outer coverings 6 and i of paper or card board, and an intermediate filling 8 of gypsum plaster or like material. In practice, of course, this wall board forms the surface for the inside walls or partitions of a building structure. This wall board or sheet rock, like other wall finishing materials such as plaster on lath, may be characterized by the fact that the principal constituent is relatively friable. Because of this characteristic, conventional fastening devices, such as screws and nails, prove quite unsatisfactory.

In accordance with our invention the plurality of panels are attached to the wall by fastening devices 5 extending along edges of the panels. One component of each fastening device is a strip 9 of malleable material, such as metal. Strips 9 may be in the form of a flat ribbon, or they may be provided in an angle shape having an upstanding portion Hi extending outwardly from the wall. Each strip 9 is attached to the wall by employing a plurality of .devices in the form of staples. These staples, shaped in the form of a U, have a connecting portion I! and legs !2 and IS. The legs l2 and [3 of each staple are driven through the strip 9 and into the wall surface in a slanting direction, preferably at an angle of approximately 45 degrees. Part of the staples are driven into the wall slanted in an opposite direction from the remaining staples. In the preferred form, the staples are driven into the wall through strip 9 in pairs, with the staples of each pair slanted in opposite directions.

Each strip 9 with its staples affixing it to the wall comprises the fastening device for one edge of a panel. For each panel, at least two fastening devices should be employed in order to maintain the panel firmly affixed to the wall. In some installations it may be desirable to use such a fastening device for each of the four edges of each panel. The strips 9 are attached to the wall in spaced relation, so that when the panel is placed against the wall it will overlie the staple connecting portions H and part of each strip. The exposed portion of each strip is then folded over, resulting in an upstanding portion extending away from the wall, and an inturned flange M in contact with the exposed face of the panel and extending along the edge thereof. In turn, the remaining panels are affixed to the wall by stapling the strips in position which correspond with that panel, placing the panel in position overlying the strips and the attaching staples, and folding over edges of the strips to maintain the panel in position.

The staples may be driven through the strip and into the wall in any suitable manner. For example, it is feasible to employ an ordinary desk stapler commonly used for stapling paper, by removing the stapling shoe. However, it is preferable to employ a heavier staple with longer legs to achieve increased holding power. For commercial application, we contemplate the use of a doubleheaded machine for simultaneously driving in a pair of staples at opposite angles. Such a stapling machine may also be equipped with a roller indexing mechanism to automatically operate the machine at spaced intervals by means of a solenoid, air cylinder, or similar device.

It will be seen, that in accordance with this arrangement for fastening the panels to a wall surface, the staples are prevented from Withdrawal in a direction along the axis of the legs of each staple, since the attached panel overlies the connecting portion of each staple. Also the staples cannot be withdrawn by a shifting of the attaching strip or the panel in either direction, since at least a part of the staples are driven in slanted at an opposite direction from the remaining staples. Therefore, once an installation has been completed, the staples may be withdrawn only by shearing out a section of the plaster or other wall finishing material, or by bending the legs of the staples.

This invention has been shown to have particular utility with respect to affixing panels, such as heating panels, to the walls or ceiling of a room. It is evident, however, that this fastening device is not limited solely as a means for afiixing a panel to a surface, and numerous other applications may be found.

Other modifications for the design of strip 9 or the staples may occur to one skilled in the art. For example, it is obvious that strip 9, instead of being in the form of a flat strip or angleshaped member, might be formed as a T-shaped member with the head of the T against the wall surface and the leg extending outwardly. This construction would permit the use of a single strip for afiixing the edges of two adjacent panels to the surface.

While the present invention has been described by reference to particular embodiments thereof, it will be understood that numerous modifications may be made by those skilled in the art without actually departing from the invention. We, therefore, aim in the appended claim to cover all such equivalent variations as come within the true spirit and scope of the foregoing disclosure.

What we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

A method for attaching a panel to a surface by means of flat strips of malleable material and staples comprising the steps of driving the staples at a slant through the strips into the surface, one group of the staples being slanted in an opposite direction from the remaining group, the strips being attached to the surface by the staples in spaced relation corresponding to the spacing of edges on the panel, placing the panel on the surface with said edges overlying the staples and partially overlying thestrips, and folding the remaining exposed portions of 4 the strips over the surface of the panel.

FRANK T. GROTHOUSE. CLARENCE FRERE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,305,492 Quass June 3, 1919 2,048,981 Vass July 28, 1936 2,172,259 Posnack Sept. 5, 1939 2,255,247 Gabriel Sept. 9, 1941 

